Predetermined Destiny
by lkasjdlfkjdlas
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter. They are not suited for each other either mentally or physically. But will the love that one has for the other be enough to conquer all that stands in their way, or will all their efforts just crash and burn?
1. Hate is a Strong Word

pleez r/r! i live 4 it...giv ne constructive critisism (sp?) or ideas for the plot that u c fit. i'm open 2 everything. o also tell me if i'm rushing (i felt like i wuz in this chap)

**Chapter 1: Hate is a Strong Word**

"Potter!" yelled a very furious red head as she made her way through the crowded Hogwarts hallways. "POTTER!"

James's laughter caught in his throat as he stared at Lily Evans running towards him.

"Good luck with this one mate," Sirius said before taking a step back and letting his friend get the full force of Lily's rage.

Giving Sirius a weak smile, James ruffled his hair before turning around to face the raging 6th year. He put on what was his "lady-killer" smile and said, "Heya Evans, how's it going?"

Lily's startling green eyes bore into James's brown ones. He saw the frenzy going on inside them and flinched. "Don't you 'Heya' me, Potter. What do you think you're doing?" she asked as she knelt down by the 2nd year Hufflepuff that was covered in boils.

"Aww, lighten up Lils. We were just having a bit of last-day fun."

"We? Oh, let me guess. The other Marauders were involved?"

"Way to go Prongs," Sirius nudged.

Lily ignored the comment and continued. "You, Remus, as a prefect should know better than to play pranks on the younger students."

Remus Lupin looked at the ground, ashamed. "Well, I'll take him to Madam Pomphrey. Wingardium leviosa," he chanted before floating the student down the hall.

Lily then turned on James again. "You are the most insufferable, big headed, prat I have ever met!" she screamed before heading down the corridor.

The whole crowd parted for her and James sat there staring at her retreating form. Suddenly, Chelsea (Lily's best mate) came up to him.

"I'm so sorry James, you know how she is. I'll talk to her, and don't take it personally," she added before running after her.

James turned back to his two remaining friends and heaved a sigh. "Am I really that big headed?"

Peter patted him on the shoulder and said, "Of course not. Just think of what Chelsea said, 'Don't take it personally.' Plus it's only what that stuck up, mu…."

"If you don't finish that sentence with something along the lines of 'fantastic person' I'll hex you next," James threatened, glaring at the shortest marauder.

Sensing something was about to happen, Sirius stepped in between the two. "Settle down there Prongs. No reason to get upset, unless you fancy Evans or something?"

Instead of answering James just turned around and ruffled his hair again. Sirius on the other hand looked like a kid that just got into the cookie jar.

"Hey! Prongsy here's got a thing fore Evans!" he shouted, while looking enthusiastically at the crowd.

A few of the girls scowled but James didn't notice. He instead focused intently on his shoes and gave Sirius a half smile. "Don't call me Prongsy."

"Ha ha. Ok Prongsy."

James playfully punched him on the arm. "Come on. We gotta go pack," he said and started making his way back towards the Gryffindor tower.

Lily stormed through the Fat Lady's portrait and plopped herself down on one of the common room chairs. Chelsea came up to her moments later, out of breath as if she'd been running.

"Geesh, can walk fast when you want to," she said with a smile.

Standing up, Lily made to go past her and into the dormitory. She was in no mood to listen to her friend nag on her for blowing up at the marauders again.

"Lils, why are you always so harsh, especially on James? They only do it for a good laugh."

"A good laugh," she said spinning around to face Chelsea. "A GOOD LAUGH!?! How does watching other people suffer make you laugh?"

"Oh my God, you're overreacting! Those people aren't suffering. They're just getting picked on a little bit."

"Chelsea listen to me! The marauders are going into their 7th year. They should be setting a good example for the younger students, not hexing them. It's my duty as a prefect to set them in their place, since obviously Remus won't do it. And that James Potter, he's the worst of them all! No doubt he's the mastermind behind all of these pranks. Gah, I hate him! My life would be so much easier if he would just crawl into a hole and never come back to Hogwarts!"

Lily paused to catch her breath and noticed that Chelsea wasn't looking at her anymore. She swiveled around to find Sirius and Peter standing behind her. She started to thank her lucky stars that James wasn't there, when he stepped out from behind Sirius. By the looks on his face, he had heard enough to get the gist of the conversation.

Before Lily could say anything in her defense, James quietly walked past her and up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Sirius gave her a glare before chasing his friend up the stairs, Peter at his heels.

Chelsea gave Lily a skeptical look before heading up the girls' stairs. "I'm off to pack."

"I'm already done but I'll come to keep you company," Lily called as she too started up.

"She hates me," was the only thing James had said for the last five minutes while staring up at the ceiling from his four-poster bed.

"Who hates you?" Remus asked as he entered.

"Our friend here has a little crush on Miss Evans," replied Sirius, "who, we happened to overhear, hates him."

Remus frowned. "Hate's a very strong word. I'm sure she's just upset."

James's expression was blank. "You didn't hear her. I really think she does. I never knew that our pranks really got under her skin, or else I would've stopped doing them a long time ago."

Sirius snapped his head up and quickly turned on James. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! How long have you been fancying this girl?"

"That's none of you're business, Padfoot."

"Aww, cumon mate. Spill."

It was obvious to all the marauders that James was getting uncomfortable on the topic, but that didn't stop Sirius from pressing the matter.

"You know Prongs, we've been your best friends since the 1st year. Why can't you tell us?"

Before James opened his mouth and had to answer the question, Remus saved him.

"Sirius, why don't you leave him alone? Can't you see he's embarrassed enough as it is?"

"Fine, fine. But you better hurry up and pack 'cause we have to leave in about half an hour."

"Bloody hell!" James exclaimed as he fell off the bed. "I gotta get a move on."

Lily lay sprawled out on her bed watching her best mate throw all of her belongings into one suitcase. "Why do you always wait until the last minute to pack?"

Stopping for two seconds, Chelsea glared at Lily before starting her mad das around the room again. "We have 15 minutes left to get down to the main entrance and…I am done," she added while she collapsed onto her own bed. "Hey Lily, there's something I have to ask you because it's gonna bug the hell out of me unless I do."

Lily knew this wasn't a good sign, but reluctantly said, "Ok, ask away."

"Did you really mean what you said about James?"

Sighing, Lily pondered the question for a few moments before answering. "Yes. Life would be a lot easier if he never came back to Hogwarts, and I do hate him. So that is an affirmative."

"He's not that bad of a guy once you get to know him."

"Yea, well I don't want to get to know him. He only makes my life difficult, I don't want to get closer to the problem. Can we please change the subject?"

It was Chelsea's turn to sigh. "Sure. So what are you doing this summer Lil?"

"Oh I dunno. Probably just going to sit in my room and hide from Petunia," Lily said with a slightly uneasy giggle.

The fact is that Petunia and Lily used to be really close. Everything changed the day Lily got her Hogwarts acceptance letter. After that Petunia constantly spat insults at her sister. She would always put Lily down and make her home life a living hell. So now Lily dreaded each holiday where she had to go home.

Chelsea noticed the uneasiness in her friends voice and immediately gave her the reassurance she needed. She grew up with wizards as parents, so she expected to go to Hogwarts, and never had to deal with being singled out by her siblings. "Well, you could always come and visit me! We'd have a blast."

Lily nodded gratefully. "I'll ask my parents about it, but I'm sure they'll be totally fine. Thanks. Oh geesh, we better head down to the main entrance, we're leaving in five minutes."

Regretfully, Lily grabbed her luggage and made her way down the staircase behind her friend, all the while mentally preparing her self for the upcoming summer.


	2. An Unknown Writer

**Chapter 2: An Unknown Writer**

Summer holiday went as usual. Lily and Chelsea posted each other, but didn't actually get together. Petunia called Lily every foul name in the book, while Lily herself just stayed in her room hoping to avoid an encounter. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were used to their two daughters getting along, didn't even notice anything peculiar about the way they were behaving.

Lily went upstairs to her room after breakfast one Saturday, two weeks before her return to Hogwarts, to find three owls sitting on her bed. Two of them she recognized, but the third was new.

Crossing the room, Lily headed straight to the bird she knew was carrying a letter from Chelsea, and snatched the envelope. The other two owls hooted at her for recognition.

Lily turned to them and said, "Now I know that you're from Hogwarts, but who are you from?"

The new owl just hooted again and playfully pecked her finger, while dropping the letter.

Grabbing all three posts, Lily deposited them on her desk. She then picked up a handful of owl treats and distributed them evenly on her bed.

The trio of owls graciously downed the food. As if on cue, they all rose into the air and, with a flurry of feathers, were out the window and gone.

Sighing, Lily picked up the letter from Chelsea and immediately recognized the curly handwriting.

Hey Lils!

Guess what? Mum and dad said that you could stay the rest of the summer at our place! We'll go to Diagon Alley next week to pick up our school supplies; I'm in dire need of a new dress robe! I made prefect this year, aren't you proud? I never expected that to happen since you were the more responsible one out of the two of us. If you can come, I'm picking you up by floo at 7 tonight. If you can't, I'll be there anyway to rescue you from your evil sister and I doubt your parents will get a good first impression of me! See you later.

Love ya lots!

Chel

Forgetting about the other two letters, Lily ran blindly down the narrow staircase to the ground level. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she smacked into something hard causing herself to go flying backwards.

"Watch it you prat!" screeched Petunia as she picked herself off of the ground.

'I don't have time for this,' Lily thought. "Sod off Petunia."

If possible, Lily's older sisters face became even more pinched than usual as she glared down at her sisters 5' 7" frame. Petunia brought herself up to her full height (which was a lanky 5' 11") and put on her best "intimidation" face. "I wouldn't talk back if I were you freak."

Pushing past her sister and into the kitchen, Lily approached her parents who were still drinking their morning tea. "Mum, dad, can I visit my friend Chelsea for the rest of the summer holiday?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged nervous glances. "I don't know sweetheart. How will you get your new robes and books?" her mom replied.

"And we won't be able to see you until Christmas holiday," her dad added.

Lilly gave an exasperated look at her mom. "Chelsea's parents will take us to Diagon Alley next friday, and dad," she said, giving Mr. Evans the same look his wife got, "I'll be with you for a fortnight during Christmas, so it'll be like making up for the time I don't see you now. Please!?!?"

Her father was the one to cave. "All right, but you're not going anywhere during your next holiday. What time are they picking you up?"

"7 o'clock tonight. Thank you so much!" Lily cheered before running back upstairs, passing an evil glare from Petunia on the way.

Once in her room, Lily started throwing her belongings into her Hogwarts suitcase, including the two remaining letters. Both of which were unopened. By the time she double-checked to make sure she had everything it was already 6:53.

Lily lugged the case down the stairs with a loud plunk as it hit each new step. She then rolled it into the living room. After taking a seat on the couch, Lily glanced at her watch. 6:55.

Before she could even lift her eyes off of her wrist, there was a loud boom and soot flying everywhere. "Bloody floo powder, I hate it," Lily heard Chelsea shout as she stepped out of the fire and into the living room.

"Chel!"

"Lily!"

The two friends ran towards each other and shared a hug. Petunia stood in the doorway and scowled, but refrained from saying anything. Lily's mom rushed into the room as soon as she heard the explosion.

"Oh my goodness is everyone alright?" she asked while getting a quick overview of the room, which was now covered in soot. It was a good thing that Mrs. Evans was not a clean fanatic.

Lily gave a quiet chuckle and turned towards, her now frantic, mom. "Yes mum, we're perfectly fine. This is my best mate Chelsea. Chelsea, this is my mum," she introduced.

Mrs. Evans reached out and shook Chelsea's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Chelsea…?"

"McKennely. Chelsea McKennely," beamed the 5' 4" brunette. "It's nice to meet you too, but right now we really have to go. My parents asked me not to stay too long, because they're making dinner. Lily you go first," she added now facing her friend. "The address is 52 Alanswood Drive."

Lily nodded her head to show she understood and stepped into the fireplace. "Thanks," she muttered as she took a handful of the floo powder her friend handed to her. "52 Alanswood Drive!" she shouted ad was soon passing by bunches of living rooms. Lily was suddenly thrown out and onto a hardwood flooring, her luggage following suit moments later.

"Lilers!" yelled a tall, thin girl with shoulder length pink hair.

"Oh my God Dacota, I love what you did to your hair!" Lily exclaimed. Dacota Riley had a habit of constantly changing her hairstyle and color.

The used-to-be-blonde smiled and said, while fluttering her eyelashes, "Yea well, it brings out the color of my eyes."

"You're so full of it, Cota," Chelsea said as the way of announcing her presence. "You only want to get noticed by Sirius."

Smirking, Dacota turned to face the new arrival. "Well, if you're trying to catch the eye of the one guy in the school whose ego is as big as a blimp and has girls laying down at his feet, you have to do something to stand out in those crowded Hogwarts hallways."

"James might be able to match Sirius in that category," Chelsea chimed in, while sneaking a peek at Lily's reaction.

At the mere mention of his name, Lily's face turned red with anger. Dacota and Chelsea started to giggle but were saved a good yelling by Mrs. McKennely.

"You must be Lily," said the middle-aged woman, who quickly pulled the, still slightly mad, red head into a motherly embrace. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard so many good things."

Lily blushed slightly. "I'm rally happy to meet you too, Mrs. McKennely. Thanks for having me over."

Chelsea's mother smiled, "No problem what-so-ever. Now why don't you three step into the kitchen and eat. Dinner's on the table."

The three girls followed each other out of the room and started their two weeks of fun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dacota lightly set down her scissors and cleaned up the red hair surrounding the chair, all the while sniggering. Lily started to wake up, so she quickly muttered the counter-curse that was holding the unconscious girl up in her chair. After setting down her friend, Dacota crawled back in her sleeping bag, awaiting the startled scream. She was rewarded quick enough.

"Ahhhhh!" screeched Lily as she sat up and looked across the room into one of Chelsea's many mirrors.

Chel jumped up from her spot on the ground. "I'm up, I'm up." She spun around to see Lily tugging at her considerably shorter hair. "Lils your hair looks great! but when did you cut it?" she asked now thoroughly confused.

Lily turned on her now smiling friend. "Dacota, how could you?"

"In my defense, if you look in the mirror again, you'll like what you see."

Staggering to get up, Lily reluctantly looked back in the mirror. Instead of long red hair that went down to the middle of her back, it stopped at her shoulders, angled in the front, and had layers. She had to give the girl some credit.

"Ok, fine. Where did you learn to style hair like this?" Lily asked while running her fingers through her hair.

Dacota gave one of her know-it-all smiles (that she mostly reserved for the guys she was seducing) and said, "I took a course in France, love."

Suddenly Mrs. McKennely's voice rang up the stairs and into Chelsea's bedroom. "Come on down you three. It's time to go to Diagon Alley."

There was a mad dash as the girls got dressed and headed down the stairs to the fireplace. Lily made sure to grab her Hogwarts letter and the one she still didn't know whom it was from.

"Diagon Alley!" Chelsea shouted, who was the first to make the trip through the dizzying fire.

Lily and Dacota copied Chelsea and soon all three were standing inside of Flourish and Blotts. "Oh geez, I still didn't open my Hogwarts letter," Lily announced as she pulled out both envelopes.

"Who's the other from?" Cota asked inquisitively.

Frowning, Lily stared at the sloppy handwriting on the front. "I don't know yet. I'll open it later, when we stop for ice cream. Oh, I made Head Girl!"

Dacota just laughed the last comment off. "That's no surprise. Anyway, what do we need for the upcoming year, other than hott guys by our sides?"

"A bunch of books, some potions ingredients, quills, ink, parchment, yada yada yada, and a formal dress."

Chelsea looked confusedly at her friend for a moment before taking the letter away from her. "Why a dress AND dress robes, instead of just the regular dress robes?"

Shrugging, Lily said, "I dunno. There isn't an explanation. But I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow at the feast, but for now…," she paused for emphasis, "we shop!"

"Agreed," both Chelsea and Dacota said at the same time.

A few hours and lots of bags later, the trio made their way over to nearest ice cream parlor. They quickly ordered and took up residency at a nearby table.

It was Chelsea that broke the comfortable silence, which they spent enjoying the cold taste of ice cream. "So Lils, who's that other letter from?"

"I completely forgot!" Lily exclaimed as she dug into her pants pocket, retrieving the envelope. She quickly ripped open the letter and began reading aloud:

Dear Lily,

Hey, how's summer treating you? It's going pretty good over her. I just received my Hogwarts letter and found out I'm Head Boy. I figured you'd be Head Girl, so I decided to write you. Isn't this great? We get to spend more time together this year, and who knows, maybe you'll even grow to like me! I can't wait to see you again.

Yours truly,

James

Lily sat there in silence staring at her two friends. They could see the rage building inside of her emerald-green eyes and just waited for her to let it all out.

"Oh my God, I can't believe he's Head Boy! He wasn't even a prefect. And then he has the nerve to post me and say, 'Who knows, maybe you'll even grow to like me.' I swear, everyday his ego grows bigger. I'm not gonna be like all the other girls that throw themselves at him. Ooo, he's in for a rude awakening once he sees me!" Lily let out in one breath.

Sharing a knowing glance with Dacota, Chelsea said, "I think it's time to take you home. We have to get up early to make it to Platform 9 ¾ on time."

Reluctantly allowing herself to be lead down the street, Lily continually ranted about the "biggest egotistical, wanker this world has ever known;" James Potter.

Pleez R/R. thanx a bunch! (also correct me on spelling errors. they bug the hell outta me)


	3. Return to Hogwarts

**Chapter 3: The Return to Hogwarts**

The sun was shining brightly on the morning of Saturday, August 31st. All was quiet outside the McKennely's two-story house. You would think that everyone was sleeping peacefully inside, but once you got close enough, your opinion would drastically change.

"Chelsea Anne McKennely, you and your friends need to be down here and ready to leave in five minutes! We already called a cab," Mr. McKennely called from the first level.

Frantically looking around the room, Chelsea said, "Ok dad. Dacota have you seen my wand?"

Lily lifted the lid of her trunk off the ground to try and cram it down on top and noticed the 10 ½" wand underneath. "Stop fretting Chel, it's right here."

"Oh thank God," Chelsea sighed with evident relief. She shoved it into her suitcase and asked, "Are you guys ready?"

Rolling her own case out of the bedroom door and down the stairs, Dacota called back, "Way ahead of you mate."

The group made their way down to the front door, outside, and into the waiting cab. The muggle driver gave them all weird looks as each girl loaded an owl into the backseat. Mr. and Mrs. McKennely stood outside the cab and beckoned each girl into a hug goodbye.

"We're going to miss you guys," Chelsea's mom said.

Her dad smiled and added, "Yea, 'cause now we won't have all of you keeping us up into the ungodly hours of the morning."

All three girls laughed and hopped into the car. As the cabbie started driving away, they all waved at the shrinking parents.

It took about 20 minutes to get to Kings Cross and they were still 40 minutes early. Once the girls reached the barrier to Platform 9 ¾, Dacota heaved a loud sigh. "Here we go. Our last year at Hogwarts. Are you all ready this?" Without waiting for an answer, she quickly lunged herself and the trolley through the seemingly solid wall.

Chelsea just shrugged at Lily before following their ambitious friend.

Coming out of the gate after Chel, Lily stopped and looked at the beautiful scarlet engine in front of her. "I'm going home," she murmured before galloping off after her, already, lost friends.

When she finally found them, she noticed that they were in a compartment that housed two of the marauders, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Lily groaned and thought about making a mad dash to another room. Wherever Sirius was James was bound to follow, and vice versa.

Right as she was about to turn away, she felt a pair of arms embrace her from behind and the all too familiar voice say, "Hey Evans, I missed you."

Lily pried herself from his grasp and spun around to face James. He stood at a tall 6'2". His jet-black, yet amazingly untamable, hair had grown over summer and was now covering his eyebrows, his hazel eyes, as always, were hidden behind his glasses, and he had a muscular build from playing Quidditch. As usual James was wearing his cheeky, don't-you-love-me grin.

"It's too bad that the feeling isn't reciprocated," Lily spat as she made her way to sit next to Dacota.

James quickly followed in and sat directly across from her.

"Great," Lily sighed. "Now I have to stare at you the whole ride."

The other two conversations had stopped and four pairs of eyes were now staring at the couple. Dacota glanced at Sirius and shared a smile, while Remus and Chelsea did the same.

"What? You weren't gonna stare at this," James gestured to his body, "anyway?"

"Oh, no," she began sarcastically. "You see, I was gonna, but then got distracted by your constantly growing head."

"Why don't you admit you like me Evans? Why do you have to be so difficult?"

Everyone knew that James had pushed the wrong button even before the words left his mouth. Lily was now trying to murder him on the spot using only her eyes, but was unfortunately, not succeeding. She instead settled for, "Number one, Potter, it will be a cold day in hell when I even remotely begin to consider you suitable to be within a 24 foot radius of. Two, I'm only difficult because you make me that way, and three is you're gonna have a helluva year if you keep this up," she said in a low menacing voice.

After a few moments of silence, where Lily glared at James and her shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Sirius nervously cleared his throat and turned back to Dacota. "So, your hair's pink. The color definitely suits you."

Unfazed by his flirtatious ways that would usually have a girl beat red and giggling by now, Dacota gave her own trademark smile. "Yea, well, I had to do something to stand out from the crowd."

Raising an eyebrow, Sirius asked (with a tad bit of jealousy in his tone), "Is there someone that you're trying to impress?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, there is."

"And who might that be?" the jealousy now overtaking the last bit of control he had on his voice.

Dacota just laughed, which caused Remus to look up over the book he was reading and give her an odd look. "Sirius, if it were you, you'd know," she soothed and threw in a wink to emphasize her point.

Visibly relaxing, Sirius kicked up his feet, leaned back and pulled his hat down low over his eyes while giving off a lazy smile. "With that accomplished, I'm going to sleep." Before Dacota could retort, he was out.

"Now if that doesn't boost his ego, I don't know what will," Remus commented without taking his eyes off of the book.

Chelsea snuck a peak at the sandy haired man across from her and gave a content smile, which he didn't notice but the remaining awake members did.

There was a brief moment of silence before the compartment door opened. Snape stepped inside and scowled.

Sirius jolted awake and looked around the compartment with a dazed look on his face. His eyes finally came to rest on Snape before he tilted his hat back down. While attempting to fall back asleep, Sirius muttered, "I knew I smelt something, Snivellus. Get outta here before I hex you with my eyes closed."

"So Black, you've lowered yourself to hanging around a couple of mudbloods have you?" Snape eyed both Dacota and Lily before continuing. "You have no respect for your heritage."

Sirius, Remus, and James were on their feet with their wands at the ready at the mention of mudbloods. Within seconds Snape was hit with three different curses, sending him flying backwards and into the compartment across from them.

"Oh my God, you guys get a grip!" Lily yelled and chased the laughing/purple/boil covered Slytherin into the other room. She immediately muttered the counter curses. "Are you alright?"

Getting a reproachful look on his face, Snape pushed past her and growled, "I don't need your help, filthy mudblood."

When Lily came back to her seat she looked around. James was sitting down again and had a look on his face that could only mean complete and utter hatred. Remus was patting him on the back and muttering something. Chelsea hade moved to the guys' side to make room for Sirius on theirs. He was currently holding Dacota who had a few tears making a line down her face.

"He didn't deserve your help."

Lily turned around to see James's eyes boring into her own. "It doesn't matter if he deserved it or not. What matters is that helping him is right. I don't expect your ego-inflated brain to understand the concept between right and wrong, but try. Besides, you act as if he said it to you."

"No one deserves to be called that."

"Oh come off your high-horse and join the real world."

Scowling, James gave up and went back to muttering under his breath.

Nothing much happened on the train ride after that. Sirius and Dacota fell asleep in each others arms, Remus read his book, Chelsea and Lily talked about the upcoming year, and James sat in the corner staring out the window. In no time at all, they were sitting in the Great Hall waiting for Dumbledore's annual welcome speech.

They didn't have to wait long. "May I have your attention please?" asked the old man with a long silvery beard. The whole crowd immediately grew silent.

Lily felt a pair of eyes staring at her from behind, so she turned around to face the Slytherin table. Suddenly, her eyes met the ice blue gaze of Lucius Malfoy. He gave her a twisted smile before turning to face Narcissa Black. (a/n that's her last name isn't it? I know she's related to Sirius but I dunno if that's her name) Shaking herself from his penetrating stare, Lily turned back to the headmaster's speech.

"As many of you know, the Forbidden Forest is strictly off limits and only students in their 3rd year and above may go to Hogsmeade. There is something new this year for our 7th year students," Dumbledore said with all eyes intently focused on him. "Since this is their last year, we have decided to have the Head Boy and Head Girl plan a formal. They will decide when it is to take place and who will be able to come. The staff also decided that the girls are going to wear a formal dress instead of their normal dress robes in order to make it more memorable." The head master paused to let the news sink in to his new head boy and girl. "Dig in."

The topic that dominated the 7th years conversations was the formal. Dacota and Chelsea would talk of nothing else so Lily was forced to join.

"I can't believe my luck!" she shouted. "Of all the guys in the year, Dumbledore had to pick the one I hate the most to be head boy."

James heard her say that and flinched. "Aww come on Evans, you know you you're gonna have fun!"

"Bugger off, Potter."

Dumbledore watched as the school's new head boy and girl bickered. Slowly, a smile crept across his face as he turned to face the witch sitting next to him.

"Are you sure you made the right choice, Albus?" asked Minerva McGonagall, the stern looking transfiguration teacher.

"There is not a more suitable couple," Dumbledore replied with a knowing smile.

A/N Here's another chapter done. I'm thankful that I finally got them back to Hogwarts to start a new year because at first, I didn't know if it was going to be a smooth transition or not. Well tell me what you think! Flames are welcome, just try to base some CC in it and not just "OMG YOUR STORY SUCKS TAKE IT DOWN!" :P

Xoxo,

Sammie


	4. A Confession from James

**Chapter 4: A Confession from James**

Since the Hogwarts students came back to school on a Saturday, they had Sunday to themselves before they started classes again. Most students spent the day out on the grounds, in the common room, or in the library. Lily, Dacota, and Chelsea were no different. They stayed down by the lake and went swimming and tanning all day.

"So, Lily, when's the first prefect meeting," Chelsea inquired while lying out in the sun.

Lily was lying off to her right while Dacota was on her left. "This Thursday. We're going to discuss Hogsmeade visits and other activities going on during the year."

A shadow quickly passed above the trio and they looked over to the lake. There were two blurs dashing around about 20 feet above the water that occasionally collided.

"What the hell is that?" Dacota asked. The girls were so intently focused on the figures that they didn't notice two guys come up behind them.

"That's James and Sirius," Remus said making all three of the girls jump. "They're trying to see who can make the other fall off their broom first."

Lily immediately became red with anger. "Bloody hell! This is just one of Potter's new ways of showing off."

The other guy that came with Remus was Peter Pettigrew and he sat slightly behind the other four while looking up at James and Sirius. Remus had plopped down next to Lily. "Why is he so arrogant?"

Remus didn't even hesitate in his answer. "Because he can be and people will still love him." Lily snorted causing the group to laugh a little. Just then, one of the figures fell off his broom and into the lake. The other flew over to the clapping crowd that had gathered near the lakeshore.

Lightly jumping off his broom, James bowed and jogged over to join his friends. " And that's how it's done."

Trying to ignore the perfect set up to shoot down James again, Lily forced herself to focus on Sirius swimming to shore.

As soon as he came up to the group, Sirius enveloped Dacota in a big bear hug. His tall 6' 3" bulky frame easily covered her 5' 8 ½" skinny one.

"Gerroff me!" came a muffled scream from inside Sirius's robes. "You're all wet!"

"And you're all dry." He suddenly got a mischievous look in his sparkling gray eyes. Before Dacota could take one step, she was slung over Sirius's shoulder and carried off down toward the lake.

Lily, Chelsea, James, and Remus all followed closely behind keen on learning what their friend was up to. Sirius stopped about15 feet before where the water hit the land. He picked up his broom and placed a no longer objecting Dacota on it. With one swift kick, they were flying above the lake.

Just when everyone was starting to believe that she had gotten off the hook, Sirius did a dive-bomb towards the water. The crowd gasped, but quickly sighed with relief as the duo resurfaced moments later.

Still carrying his broom, James looked over at Lily with pleading eyes. "Wanna go for a spin?"

Lily glanced at James and sarcastically replied, "Rain check."

Slightly crest fallen, James turned towards Remus and said, "I have to go. See you later mate," before making his way off to the castle.

Chelsea looked at Remus. "You better go with him. He may need someone to talk to. We'll send Sirius after you guys when he gets back."

"Thanks, Chel. I owe ya one," he said. He gave her a quick smile before racing after James, Peter jogging along.

Staring after Remus for a moment, Chelsea turned back to a smiling Lily. "So is there anyone you're fancying lately?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Lils," Chelsea tried to assure, but blushed slightly. Turning away to face the lake she added, "Oh, so what if I do like him?"

Lily cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "Him? As in Remus?"

Sighing irritably, Chelsea glared at Lily. "Yes Remus. He's a nice, funny, caring, good looking guy, and the only marauder that doesn't participate in every type of prank imaginable."

"Settle down, you don't have to get defensive. Actually, Remus is the only marauder I would even consider dating….Not that I want to," Lily added, noticing jealousy creep into her best friends eyes.

"Ok, good."

Just then, a drenched Sirius and Dacota flew back and landed softly on the grass. "Wow, that was awesome!" Dacota yelled as she hopped off the Comet 450.

Sirius smirked, "Yea I have that affect."

"Not you, the ride. I swear you get more self involved ever day."

"But I gave you the ride," he said while looking around. "Hey. Where are the other guys?"

As if on cue, Chelsea came over to where they were standing and spoke up. "They went back up to the castle. You should follow."

Sirius glanced back over to Dacota and gave her a swift peck on the cheek. "See you later. By McKennely, Evans."

Lily merely nodded at him before he walked off.

James stormed into the common room with Remus and Peter following closely behind. "Argh!" he roared and flipped over a chair, sending a bunch of first and second year students scattering into various corners.

"Settle down James," Remus pleaded.

"What the hell did I do wrong?" he asked and kicked the wall. James then went back to the middle of the room and flopped onto the couch. He put his head in his hands and muttered, "I'm nice to her. I am. But she always blows me off. What am I doing wrong?"

Remus slowly walked over and sat down beside his friend, "I honestly don't know mate. Maybe you should try to get over her."

"But I cant."

Sirius stepped through the portrait hole at that moment. He was all smiles at first but then realized that something wasn't right. "What's wrong?'

Remus shook his head and said, "I'm trying to convince Prongs here to get over Miss Evans."

"But I can't," James feebly protested.

Striding over to the chair across from the couch, Sirius grinned. "Sure you can. Just stop thinking about her."

James glared at his friends, not believing their stupidity. "But I can't," he said through clenched teeth.

"And why not?" Remus curiously asked.

"Because I've been trying to since our second year." Sirius, Remus, and Peter stared dumbly at their friend. "That's right. I've been trying to get over her since our second year. But that's not all. I've liked her since the day I laid my eyes on her."

The portrait swung open but the marauders didn't pay attention to it. Remus was the first to regain his voice. "Geez man, why didn't you tell us?"

Lily, Dacota, and Chelsea walked through the Fat Lady's portrait and into the common room. Lily was just about to step into full view of the place when Chelsea, who put a finger to her lips and pointed to the direction of the couch, pulled her back.

"Geez man, why didn't you tell us?" asked Remus.

James, who looked very sullen, answered, "Because I didn't think it much of it."

Standing up, Sirius yelled, "Didn't think much of it? You've liked the one girl who hates you the most for seven years. I think that's something we should've been told!"

From their hiding spot, all three girls gasped. 'He's liked me for seven years?' Lily thought. 'I didn't think that Potter had that amount of attention span.'

The trio was brought out of their thoughts when James started talking again. "Yea, and now I regret not telling you because I realized something else."

'Oh please don't say what I think you're going to say!'

"Everything she does makes me feel completely unable to control my emotions. When she looks at me my stomach does flip-flops and I feel so completely happy that I have to stop myself from shouting, just because she notices me. Yet, I feel so sad because I know she hates me, that I feel like someone is plunging my heart into ice cold water, just waiting for it to stop beating."

Dacota and Chelsea glanced at Lily who just stared blankly ahead.

Sirius and Remus were staring at their friend in disbelief. "Wow. I had no idea mate, I'm so sorry," Remus shockingly muttered while patting James on the back. Who knew his feelings ran so deep?

"Yea. I would've tried to have been a little more understanding," Sirius explained. "I'm sorry."

James smiled a real smile, not his usual smirk, but a genuine smile. "It's alright you guys. You didn't know. But there is still one more thing. This kind of goes with out saying, but I love her."

It was at that moment that Lily chose to exit her hiding spot by the portrait opening. She froze where she was standing as the marauders all turned around to face her. 'Oh my God, he loves me. Quick Lily do something!'

Green eyes met hazel and James knew that she had heard everything. "Lily…" he started but was cut off by her running past him, with tears streaming down her face as she went up to the girls dormitories.

hmmm…james had a pretty corny love speech there, but it'll have to do. As always read and review! Thanks for reading!

Xoxo, Sammie


	5. Prefect's Meeting

**Chapter 5: Prefect's Meeting**

There was no mistaking it. James was devastated by the way Lily had reacted to his confession. If it weren't for Sirius and Remus he might have gone into an unrecoverable depression. He was lucky to have such good friends as those two. For the first four days back at class, those three were inseparable, even more so than before.

Lily hadn't taken James' admittance lightly. However, her feelings for him still hadn't changed in the slightest. She had discussed how she felt with Chelsea and Dacota that night.

**Lily's POV**

"Why does it have to be me?"

Chelsea sighed and looked at her best friend. She had not stopped crying for two hours and showed no signs of stopping. Truth be told, her and Dacota were getting tired of comforting her. "You asked that before."

Sensing Chelsea trying to change the mood, Dacota added, "Shouldn't James be the one this devastated? I mean, he is the one in love after all."

Taking a moment to glare up at her friends with her now puffy red eyes, Lily turned on Dacota. "How would you like to find out that the one guy that you despise the most not only has a crush on you, but has since our 1st year?"

Dacota tried to correct her but was abruptly interrupted. "No he does not love me. He can't. He doesn't know the first thing about love, so therefore is no way he can feel it."

"Why don't we just sleep on it and figure something out later. We have potions first thing tomorrow and I, for one, don't want to upset Professor Welling," Chelsea suggested.

**Time Passage**

Before anyone knew it, homework was piled stock-high (the teachers insisted on getting a head start on preparing them for the NEWT's) and Thursday had rolled around. This day was not looked forward to by either James or Lily because it meant that they would have to face each other at the Prefect's meeting, after which was a Head Boy and Girl meeting.

Lily set down her quill and looked up at Chelsea and Dacota who were busy scrawling down words for their Transfiguration essay. "Ok Chel, it's time we better go. It's already 9:30 and we were supposed to be at the meeting room now."

The only response she got was a grunt. "Come on," Lily tried while picking up her books and shoving her friend.

"But we can't leave Dacota!" Chelsea feebly protested as she too began to pack her books, realizing that she was already defeated.

Giving a wicked smile, Dacota left the table they were sitting at." Oh don't worry about me, I've got a certain Marauder I've got to catch up with." Without so much as a backwards glance, she strode out the library and toward the Gryffindor tower, causing a few 5th years to ogle at her retreating shape.

"At least one of us is allowed to have fun," grumbled and irritable Chel as she was dragged to the Prefect meeting room.

When they arrived, they entered to a large room with a circular table in the center. And a fire place off to one side. Lily quickly scanned the room and noticed everyone had showed up except Remus and Potter.

**James' POV**

Remus pushed along a trudging James in the direction of the Prefect lounge. "But I don't want to go!" he protested while jumping up and down in a toddler like manner.

"But I thought you'd want to see Lily."

James' expression suddenly became sullen and he stopped the little bit of walking he was doing all together. Remus knew that he had to say the name sometime because the marauders had avoided saying it all week. In his opinion the sooner the better. "Mooney, I'm not taking another step."

"Then you leave me no choice," Remus took out his wand and flipped it at James, who was suddenly floating in mid-air.

And that's how they entered the meeting room. James first, floating while sitting crossed legged, scowling, and looking very much like Peeves. Remus second who lowered his wand upon entry, allowing James to return to his feet. The group of people already gathered inside sniggered but abruptly stopped at a glare from James.

Sitting in the Head Boy seat next to Lily, James offered a weak smile. Lily ignored it and instead addressed the people in front of her. "Ok everybody, welcome to the first prefect meeting this year. I'm Lily Evans, this years Head Girl, and this," she added with a gesture to the guy who was slumped next to her, "is James Potter, Head Boy."

There was a small applause for James' name from all the houses except for Slytherin. The female Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects, Laura Ashway and Elizabeth Nelson, were just downright staring at him. James noticed and flashed a cocky smile.

Noticing that soon there would be a topic totally not on subject arising soon, Lily started the one on Hogsmeade. "Well not that that's done, why don't we start picking dates for the first Hogsmeade visit?"

A few students raised their hands and the meeting was soon well under way. By the time it ended it was already 10:15 and they had set the date to be October 15. Just as Lily was about to bring the meeting to a close, the Slytherin prefect Josh Hoit brought up another topic. "What about the formal?"

"Well, seeing as that topic is for me and Potter to discuss, you don't have to worry about it," Lily said with fake cheerfulness. She really wanted to get this meeting over with so she could get through the next one as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, Josh had brought up a murmur on the topic and Laura asked the next question. "Are students under their 7th year going to be able to go?"

Lily's patience was already short with this girl because that judging by the way she was staring at James, was the only reason she wanted to know. Chelsea and Remus were the only 7th year prefects and the other students were already chatting happily about the prospect.

"I don't know Laura, we were going to discuss that after this meeting, which has now ended. Thank you for coming," Lily replied wearing a fake smile.

"But…" Laura started but was quickly cut off by James.

"No buts. Good night," he said before shooing everyone out. Remus gave him a reassuring smile before he turned around to find Lily collapsed back into her chair, sitting over some papers. James inwardly smiled. She had a few strands of red hair escaping her ponytail that nicely framed her face as she bent over.

"I like your hair cut," he weakly attempted to start since they hadn't said a word to each other all night. Everything about her made James weak.

Lily just nodded and said, "Thank god that's over. Now lets just get through this asap because I still have a lot more work to do."

Noticing her deliberate change of topic, James decided to go with it. He ruffled his hair nervously before starting. "Ok, well we have to discuss the formal. What date do you think it should be?"

"How about January 9th? That way students will have something to look forward to after Christmas holiday and if we want to plan another regular dance, it's not too late in the year. I also think that only 7th years should be able to go, unless asked."

"Sounds good to me. Since you've got that planned out, why don't I plan the schedules for patrolling the hallway?" James asked hopefully. He thought that if he could plan them, he could stick himself with Lily the whole time.

Lily had already caught onto his plan though. "I don't think so Potter."

Though slightly set back, James wasn't giving in. "Aww common Lily, You said yourself that you have a lot of work to do and I'm just trying to do my share of duties."

Sighing, Lily caved. "Fine." Just as James was about to let out a whoop she added, "But you have to put each person with every other person at least once."

"Thanks love," James said before realizing that he shouldn't have. Lily flinched at the term love and was now intently reading over her Transfiguration essay. "Sorry Lily," James apologized his heart dropping.

Pretending like nothing ever happened, Lily glanced up at him for a moment before returning to her work. "For what?"

This was going to get on James' nerves, he could tell already. "You can't pretend that it didn't happen," he gently said taking a step to her.

"I can and I will."

Furious now, James left without even giving a reply. He decided to head straight to the Astronomy Tower where he could think some things over.

**Lily's POV**

Lily walked into the Gryffindor common room at 11 o'clock; half an hour after her meeting with James ended and was greeted by 3 Marauders, Dacota, and Chel.

"Wow your meeting ran late. Did you and James get a little distracted?" Dacota joked.

Appalled and slightly confused Lily said, "We definitely did NOT get distracted, and James left the room half an hour ago. I stayed behind to do some extra work."

Sirius, who was sitting on the couch with his arm wrapped around Dacota said, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

At that moment James walked in. "Hey everyone. What are you all doing up?"

"We were all waiting for you to come back," Peter smartly answered.

Getting a hopeful look on his face, James turned to Lily. "You too?"

She scoffed and replied, "I just got back, don't get false hopes. Besides, what were you doing wandering around after hours?"

"I'm Head Boy. I can stay out as late as I want," James said arrogantly.

Turning on her heel, Lily walked up the girls' staircase to her four-poster bed. She couldn't bear to be in the same room as James after he had beaten her at a row.

James looked back to his friends sitting in the common room, whom were all waiting for him to make the first move. "How has your guys' night been?"

The group chatted for a while just enjoying being back at school with their friends. They finally decided to go to bed around 12:30.

**Time Passage**

"Wake up Prongs!" Sirius yelled from across the dormitory. "Just because you don't have Evans eating out of the palm of your hand doesn't mean you can skip classes."

James groggily opened his eyes to see light streaming in through the window. He groaned and pulled the pillow over his head trying desperately to keep the light out. "Huh?"

He suddenly felt himself being rolled off the bed and landed with a loud smack on the ground. "We have 8 minutes of breakfast left and then Herbology with Slytherins. I suggest you get a move on," Remus replied before he raced down the staircase.

Jumping off the ground, James scrambled across the room grabbing his robes and ruffling his hair with his free hand. Making it down to the Great Hall in record timing, he had just enough time o grab some toast and bacon before running toward the green houses and starting another day. Only the sight that greeted him was enough to make his blood boil.

**End of Chapter**

Alright there's another chapter..i know it's been forever since I've updated here, but I'll be honest..i got lazy..thanks for reading, and I wouldn't mind if you clicked that little go button at the bottom of the page to leave a review :) as of now I don't know how to insert breaks so I'm sorry, but my fic will be a little old school for a while

Xoxo

sammii lynn


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